2013-08-15 - Whose Mummy Is This?
The charity event at the Stonechat Museum was to raise funds for children education programs here and to also purchase new items for the cultural centers. This is known as the Museum of Ancient War, and the chance to expand that renown is always good. Currently, Maddie Pryor is here to support the children's education program part of it more than the Museum of Ancient War part. She saw it in the countless invitations sent to her as a well-known fundraiser, and decided to check it out. She is dressed pretty casually though, sipping at some champagne. The glass parts are placed up even where they normally aren't to protect the artifacts from the liquids that are not normally around. Being in the employ of the museum for both obvious and not so clear reasons, Kendra's been prominent in helping arrange the event. It's involved planning, layout and the arrangement of tables, chairs and a small stage area, including a variety of Egyptian artifacts on display in the area that's been cleared out for it. She's even dressed up! It's a long purple gown, thin straps over the shoulders with no small amount of cleavage showing thanks to spacing down the middle, kept just so courtesy of some lacing. It's cut close along her sides and hips, down to a wider amount of material at the floor. It's sleek enough that it's probably silk or satin. Plain white earrings go well with a hawk necklace and there's also a metallic band around her left wrist. So far, she's doing a fair job of looking like she's enjoying herself, too. Maddie had already heard the speeches and general outline of the program, she asked the proper probing questions, and she made her donation. Right now she's just here to look at the items and enjoy the bit of champagne...not as good as the Hellfire's, but not bad. She mms softly to herself, frowning a bit at the armor that seems to encase a mummy on display within an open tomb. Weapons seem scattered about the mummy in a strange pattern. But she shakes her head, trying to ignore the tingling at the back of her skull as she turns to notice the red head in the purple dress. It isn't by a designer she knows, it may not even be a designer gown, but whoever made it...had talent! Maddie gasps softly, and starts to head for the woman. "I'm sorry to interrupt," approaching the woman as she seems to be speaking to one of the men that work at the museum. "I couldn't help but notice your dress. It's...beautiful," she breathes sincerely, seeming to study it more closely. Kendra managed to avoid any speeches of her own. That's so not her thing. It's enough to be 'on display' in the sense of being a public face of Stonechat. Why couldn't Carter or Shiera have come back to St. Roch for this? That thought is derailed as she's approached by someone who gains her attention. "Hmm?" she wonders, lowering a glass of champagne in her right hand. "Oh, thanks. I'm Kendra Saunders, one of the..well, I don't really have a formal title here, but I work with the museum. No offense, but you kind of stand out here, yourself." She indicates the more casual outfit. Maddie smiles warmly, "Kendra, that's a beautiful name." She offers a hand to shake yours if you are willing. "Maddie Pryor, from New York City. I came here on a spur of the moment. I could have grabbed something, but...," she then shrugs. "I just felt like being my usual day-to-day self." Apparently, these outfits she has on is the stuff she wears daily...she does certainly have her own style. "Now I sort of regret it, seeing a beautiful dress like yours. Did someone design it for you? I don't recognize a designer...if you dare say department store...ah, forget it, even if you did, I'd find myself shopping there," she admits with a dramatic sigh. "I'm..from Austin," Kendra answers with enough of a pause that there's probably something to the mention of it. "But St. Roch is my home these days, sometimes New York City if I've got stuff going on there. I'm in a lot of places depending on what's going on." She eyes the patrons, then some of the kids there to represent the programs the money's to go toward, and she pauses on a few of the displays nearby. "It's custom. Not the usual kind of thing for me, but once in a while..." "Perhaps before the night is out, I can find out who designed it then," Maddie says, a little breathlessly. Alright, so she likes beautiful clothes! But she then finally shakes her head, "You should wear things like it more often Kendra! It really flatters you, and I'm not just saying it to be nice," she says seriously. But she then smiles a little wider, "I must sound like some crazy girl from NYC. Sorry, me and dresses have this 'thing'. A girl is permitted some obsessions after all." Her eyes dance with humor and playfulness. "But Austin? You are actually sounding like a local here in St. Roch," she says with warmth. "It is a beautiful city to call home. I got to tour a bit of it before attending the party, mostly drive-by sight-seeing sadly. I hope to see more tomorrow before I head home." Shaking her head, Kendra confides, "It's not usually my kind of style, but thanks again. And I left Austin a while back. It's not really like the rest of Texas anyway. Much more liberal, for starters. Weird, too. They say 'Keep Austin Weird,' you know." She waves off the apology of sorts and nods. "Everyone's got things that hit them certain ways. I know how it is. And St. Roch isn't bad. Lots of history, some a little stranger than others." Eyeing a certain area of the room, she frowns slightly. "I didn't give the okay for that to be there." It's the mummy/tomb bit. Ah, the one Maddie was studying earlier. "Keep Austin weird huh?" She smirks a bit at that, but then nods at the mention of the mummy/tomb bit, "I noticed earlier that it did not have a plaque to explain what it is," she says. "And it...feels strange," shivering a bit and moving to hug herself about the waist. There is...almost a look of 'fear' to her, before it fades. "I'm likely being silly about it. Then again, the dead always did creep me out a little bit," she says with a sigh. "Go there sometime and you'll see," Kendra answers, but something about the mummy has grabbed more of her attention. "I told them basic stuff. Some papyrus, a few hieroglyphs, a statue or two..not a freaking mummy. I'll be right back. I've got an odd feeling too." She sets the finished glass of champagne down nearby and moves toward the display. It seems fine at first, at least until Kendra gets closer. It seems...to react to the Nth metal the woman is wearing, as some bits of the armor seems to GLOW on the mummy and it starts to moooove! Maddie is watching Kendra walk away more than the mummy, but the movement catches her attention, and her fingers loosen as a scream of horror comes from her mouth right as the glass shatters spilling champagne across the tile floor. People turn to STARE at Maddie, but when they finally turn to see what Maddie is staring out....the reactions are....mixed. She's only in a bit of it, but Nth Metal is Nth Metal and it doesn't take much for Kendra to benefit from its properties. Nor, apparently, does it take much for the reaction to begin. "Aw, come on. You have /got/ to be kidding me." She sounds more annoyed than shocked or afraid, which ought to account for something. As a couple screams rise and the sound of broken glass follows, she gestures behind her. "Get back!" Maddie stumbles backwards and some people start running. Others are pulling out cell phones and digital cameras to take photos, and the museum people sound excited of this strange magic, and frightened of the property damage! The mummy rises from the tomb display, the glass seeming to almost sparkle as it cascades down into pools. It moves toward Kendra, at least until Maddie bumps into a display, setting off a museum alarm, and falling down to her butt with an umpf! The stand tilts, and then falls, the glass and stone urn breaking, spilling out seemingly dried up asp snakes that suddenly start to become more plump and...-ALIVE-. Maddie lets out a whimper of fear as she starts to try and half crawl, half scurry away, her one booted foot slipping on glass. The mummy starts to move toward Maddie. "All right, this is not good," is Kendra's snap judgment of the situation, stepping back when the shift becomes much more obvious, leading to a mummy and the snakes commonly found in the Nile region. "Show's over, people! These things are poisonous, so get outside!" she calls out, sounding like an order. She can just hope even half of them actually listen. "And thanks for coming! The kids appreciate it!" Kendra's right hand goes to her hip and comes up empty, prompting a short curse from her. No weapons. Good thing they're in a museum. "Carter's going to flip but he'd understand," she mutters while moving as quickly as the gown allows, grabbing an ancient-looking sword from a display, getting a feel for the weight of it before she cuts down at one of the asps slithering in her direction. The kids are ooohing and ahhhhing, and getting dragged out by panicking parents. Maddie seems alone, coming to a wall to stand up, a bit of blood on her hands from the shattered glass. She tries to reach into a jean pocket to pull something out with a shaking hand. And asps is cut in half, still twitching and the biting half still seeming 'alive' as snakes often appear even after killed due to their nervous system. The other one is coming up toward Maddie quickly, even as the mummy is heading toward it and her. Though strangely enough, the mummy grabs for the asp rather than Maddie, picking it up and soon flinging it over toward Kendra's direction! Maddie lets out a frightened, breathless sounding scream as the mummy seems to move to hover over her and reach for her. Banking on asps being faster than a mummy, Kendra's thought is to deal with them first, and look! It's even tossing another her way! Saves her the trouble of running it down or finding something else small and sharp to throw. Her eyes widen just in the initial moment the venomous snake is sailing at her, stepping back and to her right to turn herself so she can bring the sword up in an arc to meet the asp in passing. "Hold on!" she shouts toward Maddie. Maddie is holding what looks like an inhaler. She is cowering and trying to take a breath from the black thing with a silver X on it. "Power...," the mummy says through rotten teeth and breath, "Power....." And Maddie manages that in-drawn breath and then suddenly an almost 'glow' appears about her as the mummy is thrown back from her. She holds herself, curled up into a ball, not moving right now as an almost bubble of energy flickers about her in brief shifts of gold before fading from human sight. The mummy crashes into a display, picking up a spear as he moves to stand back up. "I...want...your power....of life." Maddie is far from being out of danger, but she has bought Kendra time to actually respond. The response will be coming, but first there's a pause while Kendra stares at what comes from Maddie herself. Surprise, surprise! "Okay, that's a neat trick." From there it's back into action as she places herself between Maddie and the mummy. "Gotta go through me first. I don't know who brought you here but it's pretty sick to ruin a fundraiser for the kids." But how do you stop a mummy? There's fire, but that could get tricky in here. There's also an ancient Egyptian belief about the heart, sometimes replaced by a stone scarab. Belief and reality, however, could be vastly different. "That spear won't help you," she says, close to a taunt. "Foolish mortal...you think...you the only one to...cheat death? You will not...have her power," the nasty mummy says, moving forward slowly, but with skill. It then stabs the spear out to try and pierce Kendra! The movement is surprisingly quick considering how slow the mummy generally moves, but its eyes burn with a gem-like red fire. "I don't care about her power," Kendra nearly hisses back at the mummy, wielding the sword ably in her right hand, though she lacks a shield for the left. The inability to block leads to her needing to be quick enough to parry, and the mummy catches her slightly off-guard, enough to tear a hole in the side of her gown along with a thin cut. She all but snarls and as she moves, short heels matching the color of the gown can be seen while she strikes down at the spear, seeking to split it in half. "Arrrrgh!" The mummy moves to twist the half of the spear handle he still holds to turn it to try and hit Kendra like a bit, aiming for her head. Maddie actually peeks out from her folded arms and seems to cry out though it's almost as if you sensed it rather than truly heard it, << Watch out! >> Kendra ducks under the swing, moving better than someone ought to be able to in that gown. From close quarters, she grabs at the mummy's wrist and drives the handle of the sword down at its fingers in hope of separating the remainder of the spear from it, quickly spinning back again whether successful or not. "What?" She can't spare the time to look, but the sense of the woman's voice in her head is beyond expectations. She's studying the undead being's movements much more closely now, seeking an opening. The spear lost, the mummy is moving for another weapon, this time a scythe. He says, "Soon, you will be at my feet." It is only perhaps now, that Kendra may realize...even though she shouldn't understand it, that the mummy is not speaking English, but actually Egyptian! How does she know Egyptian?! Maddie's voice is there, whispering in your ear seemingly, << I can sense it, better from the back. Where is heart should be. It throbs with power. Destroy it Kendra, set it free to be tormented no more. >> "Yeah, I'm not into necrophilia," Kendra retorts, and the thing about it is she's responding in Egyptian like she's well-versed in it as well. It is not something she seems aware of. She squints, as if at a gnat or fly buzzing at her ear, but it's the voice inside. With a grunt she feints in toward the mummy only to slip past it and strike in one motion toward a spot between the ribs, twisting and ripping with the point of the sword to dig out whatever's there. "Kyaahh!" It's resistant at first, but you are too close for the mummy to use the scythe! The mummy instead reaches for your throat, a nasty bandaged hand wrapping about it to start squeeeezing! But as you thrust that sword in further, you can feel it start to give, and then....suddenly, there is a strong PUSH, as if someone is helping you, and whatever is in his chest breaks part and there is a rush of magical power as the mummy screams in pain and torment before...suddenly becoming dust! Maddie is coughing afterwards as she moves to stand, a shake with her power causes the dust to suddenly depart from her body and to avoid her. "Kendra? Kendra, are you alright?" The voice is a little...'different', more seductive, as the woman's mind reaches out for Kendra's. The hand is /strong/ as the fingers find Kendra's neck and begin cutting off her ability to breathe, threatening to soon crush her windpipe as well. She loses hold of the sword in order to pry at the fingers with both hands, feet leaving the floor by a few inches. That assist to remove that which is within the mummy before it's destroyed comes just in the nick of time, Kendra stumbling down to her hands and knees for a few seconds as the dust swirls around her and blows away as if by an unfelt wind. "Gack.." she coughs, spitting up something from the back of her throat, a bit of bile, and she shakes her head a couple times as she gets back to her feet slowly. The cut at her side looks like it's already closing up, and some redness at the sides of her neck and throat is beginning to fade. "Yeah..just give me a minute," she rasps, squinting in Maddie's direction. "Damn." Maddie moves toward Kendra's side then as the dust seems to be pushed away from the other woman with the long red-head's approach. She reaches out to touch your face, "Kendra?" The concern is there, her eyes turning more gentle, but there is...'something dark' inside them still. "Thank you. You protected me." The healing is noticed, and the fading of the marks, especially once the dust is pushed away. Protecting Maddie and anyone else in danger, but yes, the mummy was making a very direct approach toward the out-of-towner. Kendra squints at the fingers alongside her face and holds still initially before taking a half-step back for breathing room. "Just did what I had to do. Don't worry about it," she answers, trying to pass it off as nothing. She still hasn't realized the different language that was being spoken, and her head tilts somewhat speculatively at the look in Maddie's eyes and expression. "What was the language you spoke though? It sounded so...exotic?" Still, Maddie then smiles softly, "In either case, I still thank you Kendra." She then moves forward after Kendra's retreat, and if the woman isn't carefully, she will end up with a soft kiss upon her lips! "I will remember you." The words sound...almost profound, as if they hang heavy in the air. "..English," Kendra answers in such a way that you can just imagine the 'duh' tacked on, without it said. It's that bit of confusion over how someone could not understand English that leaves the opening for the brief kiss, brief because Kendra does blink at it and take another step back. "Someone's forward!" she blurts, trying to laugh it off although she's squinting again. Maddie laughs softly, "Is it not right to give a kiss to one's hero?" Still, she then says softly, that strange sweetness and temptation to her voice, "It wasn't English dear. You really didn't realize, did you?" But her smile widens. "Meet me for lunch tomorrow." And from Kendra's mind she plucks her favorite place to eat, suggesting it. "Eleven o'clock, don't be late." Maddie then moves to take her leave via the back exit, to avoid the police that are starting to come up the front one. Kendra coughs at the 'kiss to a hero' part, something about the woman taking her out of her usual comfort zone. "Realize what?" Later on one of the other museum employees will tell her it was Egyptian she spoke, much to her surprise. The place chosen draws a brief nod of approval. "They're good." That's all she gets to say before the woman is departing, leaving Kendra in a deeper state of confusion as the cops move in to take note of the scene and interview witnesses. "Ah, Officer Isabella. You're not going to believe this..."